Need to replace my die set

[ept000]

I load a boat load of 9mm on my Hornady LnL progressive, and tonight my Lee sizer die gave up on me. I am looking at replacing the whole set. I have heard good things about the Redding three die set, sizer/seating/seperate tape crimp, but holy smoke they are pricey. Are they really worth it? Is there something close for less money?

[Dale53]

I have die sets from all of the major suppliers. For some time my dies of choice has been the Lee four die sets (I MUCH prefer to seat and crimp with separate dies). I prefer the Lee Factory Crimp die over others.

YMMV
Dale53

[mikenbarb]

The old Redding dies are worth it but im not crazy about their newer made stuff. Their getting real sloppy lately. Check out the Hornady or Lyman dies.

[MtGun44]

Hornady. Rifle type super alignment boolit seating sleeve, spare
boolit nose matching seater stem tip, overall high quality feel and look
and a reasonable price.

Bill

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I own a set of the Hornady pistol dies and have owned the LnL for many years. I didn't like the Hornady bullet seater die for .45ACP even though I love that feature in their rifle dies. I found it got in the way when inserting a bullet to seat. I much prefer the Lee 4 die sets for pistol reloading and have eliminated most of my non-Lee pistol dies.

Lee has excellent warranty service. I would contact them about repairing/replacing a failed die before I bought a complete set of dies. If you load a lot of a single caliber, it'd be worth it to you to have two sets of dies, with one as a backup in case of a problem with the other set.

Another option is to buy just another sizing die.

[cajun shooter]

Lee 4 die set for all pistol rounds. RCBS mic dies for precision rifle loading

[jonk]

What do you mean it 'gave up?'

[billyb]

I had a Lee sizer die shed it's carbide incert, sent it to lee and they sent me a new die. Bill

[1hole]

"... tonight my Lee sizer die gave up on me."

Huh? In what way? And if it's a makers defect, Lee will likely replace it. Other dies may be as good but none are really any better, IMHO.

But, if you just want a new die set, try Lyman or Redding if only because of their excellant expander plug. (Redding has copied Lyman's excellant "M" expander die)

[ept000]

"... tonight my Lee sizer die gave up on me."

Huh? In what way? And if it's a makers defect, Lee will likely replace it. Other dies may be as good but none are really any better, IMHO.

But, if you just want a new die set, try Lyman or Redding if only because of their excellant expander plug. (Redding has copied Lyman's excellant "M" expander die)

When I was loading I was having trouble with the shell plate getting stuck in the up position. I wasn't sure exactly where it was hanging up until a case got stuck in the sizing die. I pulled the die out and the carbide ring has moved up inside the body of the die about 3/32". I took out the decapping pin and was able to drive the stuck case out, but now the carbide ring wants to get stuck on every case, and the ring stayed up inside the die body. I don't know if it's possible for the carbide ring to get compressed, but that's what it feels like. This set of Lee dies is probably about three years old and have loaded at least thirty to forty thousand rounds. I figured this may be a good time to switch to seperate seat and crimp dies while I'm at it. I am using a PTX plug from www.lnlptx.com so I don't need and expanding die.

[scrapcan]

eptOOO,

Tell us about he lnlptx insert? I have a Hornady case activated powder dro I am using with an rcbs measure on a dillon 550b and was wondering if it or a modificaiton of it would work in that application.

[ept000]

The LNLPTX unit has a more gentle taper, and fits just about every case made. Some of the other units have a steep taper and just flare the very end of the brass, which is harder on the brass. This thing is one of the very few true "drop in" parts I have.

[Firebricker]

Redding pro series for progressive are really good but my RCBS dies do just as good for a little
less. Still not cheap but worth it IMO . On the plus side Lee will definately stand by there product and fix or replace the die. FB

[ept000]

Can someone verify something for me? Is the Lee four die delux set the same as the three die set with just a factory crimp die added, or is the bullet seating die actually different?

[ept000]

In case anybody has this same question, I just got off the phone with Lee and they say that the dies are the same. They just add the FCD to the box.

[Jeff.L]

Sent my 500 S&W carbide sizing die back because it cracked and was tearing up brass, they sent me a new one.. Jeff

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

When I was loading I was having trouble with the shell plate getting stuck in the up position. I wasn't sure exactly where it was hanging up until a case got stuck in the sizing die. I pulled the die out and the carbide ring has moved up inside the body of the die about 3/32". I took out the decapping pin and was able to drive the stuck case out, but now the carbide ring wants to get stuck on every case, and the ring stayed up inside the die body. I don't know if it's possible for the carbide ring to get compressed, but that's what it feels like. This set of Lee dies is probably about three years old and have loaded at least thirty to forty thousand rounds. I figured this may be a good time to switch to seperate seat and crimp dies while I'm at it. I am using a PTX plug from www.lnlptx.com so I don't need and expanding die.

Yep, your die has failed. Lee will replace it. Send it back to them for a replacement.

Regards,

Dave

[ept000]

Yep, your die has failed. Lee will replace it. Send it back to them for a replacement.

Regards,

Dave

I called Lee today and told them what happened. They are sending me a new die body for free. No need to send the old one in because they are aware of a small batch of 9mm dies that had this problem, even though this die lasted for between 30 and 40K rounds. I have called Lee exactly twice about possible warranty, never demanding only asking, and both times they have gone above and beyond what I expected. I'm a happy camper!

[olovo]

Although majority of my reloading equipment is RCBS, I highly recommend Redding dies (I have their 9mm Luger three die set).
A few days ago while sizing and decapping 9mm cases, one case got stuck in the carbide sizer die - it just wouldn't come out, like it was welded. I tried to pull it out, but the shellholder just sheared the rim off. Now, if that was a RCBS die, in which the decapping pin goes out downward, I could pretty much go [smilie=p: myself. Fortunately for me, in Reddings sizing die the decapping pin goes out upwards, so the problem was easily taken care of. I also have Reddings competition seater die (for .357MAG) of which I can say nothing but good things.
That being said, I have RCBS carbide three die set for .357MAG and I'm quite happy with it.